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One Woman – Four Deserts. Success in the Sahara.

November 08, 2012

The goal of German sport scientist and endurance athlete is getting closer and closer. With the Sahara behind her, she’s now successfully crossed three of the four largest deserts in the world. In the Sahara, she ran through sand and, with a time of 31 hours and 8 minutes, was the fastest woman and the 5th competitor overall to cross the finish line. We send our hearty congratulations to Anne-Marie for this sensational success! Again, the athlete relied totally on freeze-dried meals from Trek’n Eat. We recently received the following email:

Dear Desert Friends, I’ve arrived in Engadin, Switzerland, healthy and on schedule, and I’ve also brought along a silver plate for being the fastest woman as well as a medal for earning 5th place overall. I was able to dominate the women’s field with my time of 31 hours, 8 minutes – nearly 7 hours faster than the next female finisher.

I’m very happy that I survived the inferno of the Sahara. The heat was quite a challenge to me. It was difficult in the beginning to find my rhythm and I had to constantly pull back my tempo to not overheat. The sand was less of an issue really; I was able to get used to it quite quickly. The scenery didn’t change a lot though. Much of the time everything was just yellow. But I survived this desolation with mental power.

My equipment did me very well over the 250 kilometers. My pack only weighed 7.5 kilos (16.5 lbs.), lighter than it ever has! My trekking meals surprised me with new creations and even the hazelnut creme put me in an early Christmas mood. I ended up with only two small blisters on one toe on the first day. Otherwise, I didn’t end up with any other physical damage! The mood in the camp was amazing, and it’s always truly interesting to run with athletes from all over the world.

Now I am preparing for Antarctica. The race in the desert of ice kicks off Nov. 22 and again will take six days during which time we must conquer 250 kilometers. We’ll be on the high seas for two days, and we have to cross the most dangerous water passage in the world: Drake Passage. Temperatures range from -20 degrees Celsius to +2 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit to 35 degrees Fahrenheit). We will run on a course through snow and ice and again must carry our own pack with emergency equipment. The expedition ship is our homebase where we will eat and sleep. Sixty participants from all over the world take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

If I were to win this competition, I’d be the first woman ever who has won all four races in one year in record-breaking times. Indeed, I’m already wearing a crown.